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ups and downs

plural noun

rises and falls of fortune; good and bad times:
Every business has its ups and downs.

ups and downs

plural noun

alternating periods of good and bad fortune, high and low spirits, etc

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Word History and Origins

Origin of ups and downs¹

First recorded in 1650–60

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Idioms and Phrases

Good times and bad times, successes and failures, as in We've had our ups and downs but things are going fairly well now . This term was first recorded in 1659.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

There will be ups and downs for all five clubs involved but they have all got valid reasons for thinking they can and will make it.

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“You know, everything has its ups and downs. You got to go through those in life and you just keep going, really.”

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Jeffrey Young: When you’re skating, you’re not thinking about life’s ups and downs.

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Relations between the US and South Africa, characterised by ups and downs over the years, hit rock bottom earlier this year, with Trump cutting off aid to the country, citing the new Expropriation Law, which allows the government to confiscate land without compensation in certain circumstances.

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Gavin and Stacey, which was co-written by Ruth Jones and James Corden and began in 2007, followed the story of a girl from south Wales and a boy from Essex who fell in love, and the ups and downs of their worlds colliding.

From

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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